Radio Atlantic, IA – AM 1220

KJAN Ag/Outdoor

April 22nd, 2014 by Ric Hanson

Nichols Farms LTD of Bridgewater is the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association’s nomination for the national Environmental Stewardship Award Program (ESAP). This family farm operation is managed by Dave Nichols, Phyllis Nichols and Lillian Nichols, and covers Adair, Adams and Cass counties. As Iowa’s ESAP representative, Nichols Farms has been nominated for recognition at the regional level, which includes four other states. If it is successful in the regional competition, Nichols Farms will move on to the national level.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association initiated the environmental award program in 1991 to highlight exceptional work done by cattle producers to protect and enhance the environment. Since its inception, Iowa cattle producers have won 15 regional awards and three national ones. Nichols Farms is known internationally for its innovative techniques in using genetic and production data from cattle to produce beef more efficiently. However, the farm operation has always been conservation minded since Dave Nichols’ parents purchased land in Adair County in the late 1930s.

It won’t be known until August whether Nichols Farms was selected as the ESAP Region 3 winner. If it is selected, it will compete for the national ESAP title with six other regional winners. The national winner will be announced during the Cattle Industry Annual Convention and Trade Show in San Antonio, TX, in February 2015.

April 22nd, 2014 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture will award $6 million to 10 universities to finance the study of what climate change means to agriculture and strategies for helping farmers and ranchers deal with weather changes. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the grants Tuesday during a conference about climate change held at Drake University in Des Moines.

Vilsack told the audience the grants would lead to information and developments that would be essential to farmers. The grants were made through the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The grants will go to the University of Colorado, Cornell University, Florida International University, Iowa State University, Michigan State University, the University of Minnesota, Montana State University, Oklahoma State University, Pennsylvania State University and West Virginia University.

April 22nd, 2014 by Ric Hanson

Farmers are use technology such as G-P-S and weather reports these days to save time and money and increase crop yields, and many are being asked to share their data collected from that technology. The sharing issue has raised many worries about security and privacy. The American Farm Bureau Federation recently met with officials from six, large “agricultural technology” companies to discuss those concerns. Mary Kay Thatcher, Senior Director of Congressional Relations for the federation, says the new question is whether to share all the different data for agronomists to sift through and to help improve efficiency.

“If you’re a farmer you don’t want to have to go in and read a data privacy policy from John Deere, because that’s the kind of equipment you have, and a different one from Monsanto because that’s the kind of seed that you put in, and a different one from Precision Planting because that’s the actual technology that you use — and try to figure out what’s going on there. We’d like to try and get some of these definitions and terms standardized,” Thatcher says. Farmers want to know exactly how their data will be used and who will have access to it. Thatcher says the vast majority of the 60 companies that offer “ag tech” services say they will make the details anonymous.

“Usually it means I’ll remove the name if I have the Social Security number, if I have an address, a phone number etcetera. But lots of time they are not removing the G-P-S locations — because it’s the G-P-S locations that say ‘put more fertilizer on this part of the field’,” she explains. The problem is, those G-P-S coordinates are a big key to other information. “If you’ve got the G-P-S coordinates, you pretty much know who I am and what farm I’m farming on,” Thatcher says.

There are questions about who gets to see all the aggregated information. For example, could the U-S E-P-A identify farmers who idle their equipment for what it considers too long to be good for air quality? Or could a seed dealer learn how planting is going for local farmers and use that information to compete in their own fields? Or could investment banks and traders use it to make a lot of money on commodities markets?

April 22nd, 2014 by Ric Hanson

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack was in Cedar Rapids Monday afternoon to tout an effort by his agency to create jobs in rural America. The former Iowa governor said the new Rural Business Investment Program (RBIP) will allow the USDA to facilitate private equity investments in ag-related businesses. “It’ll be at least $150 million and those resources can then be used to purchase interests in small businesses that want to expand and scale up product,” Vilsack said. “It’s an opportunity to get more capitol into rural areas.”

Eight Farm Credit institutions have pledged to invest $150 million into the new program. Vilsack said, over the past decade, USDA programs to help rural businesses have only involved loans or loan guarantees. “The bottom line here is about a new way to do business for government, where we facilitate, bridge, and leverage as opposed to solely relying on government financing to do it all,” Vilsack said. The ag secretary is promising more programs to help rural America will be rolled out in the coming months.

For instance, a Rural Opportunity Investment Conference is being planned for this summer. The event is designed to connect major investors with rural business leaders, government officials, economic development experts and other partners. “We’ll have every federal agency that has projects…like, we have water projects that we don’t have enough money to fund because of budget constraints. Those water projects may be something an investment bank might be interest in because it’s a fairly stable return. So, we’re going to match their money to projects we know are available and out there in rural America,” Vilsack said.

Vilsack discussed the USDA programs Monday during a stop at Central Iowa Power Cooperative in Cedar Rapids.

April 21st, 2014 by Ric Hanson

Wet weather is the only thing slowing progress on the “Senior Activities Area” at Sunnyside Park, in Atlantic. Parks and Rec Director Roger Herring announced Monday, that grading is the next major step, but that many contractors are very busy with other projects to find enough time to work on the park. On the bright side, a local contractor has stepped forward with a generous donation of time and labor for that portion of the project.

Herring says Rob Stamp, owner of Stamp Construction, is willing to grade the area for the cost of the gasoline only. He said Stamp is excited be a part of the project, along with the Trevor Frederickson Foundation and Dean Orstad family, who are making major contributions for a professional level horseshoe playing area at Sunnyside Park. Herring said Stamp should be able to get the work on grading done within the next couple of weeks, weather permitting.

He said also, that Melanie Petty with the Fredericksen Foundation, has informed him the Foundation is willing to help out with the cost of the horseshoe, Bocce ball and badminton equipment, in addition to the labor and expertise needed to set up those activity areas.

In other business, Herring told the Parks and Rec Board Monday, that the Iowa Department of Transportation has approved a $40,000 TAP (Transportation Alternative Program) Grant application submitted by SWIPCO, for a concrete renovation of the Bull Creek Pathway in front of the Schuler Elemenary School. He says the walkway/bike path is used for Middle School Physical Education classes and cross county programs. The path in that area is currently narrow and ruddy. Once it’s straightened out and widened, the Intra-City bike path from 17th and Olive Streets to the Schildberg Recreation Area will be complete.

Herring said also, that the Roy Newberg Family has agreed to purchase two Memorial benches in his name, to be installed by the west kiosk at the Schildberg Recreation Area. On a separate note, Herring reported the six dog waste stations around the City’s trails and Rec Area are being used as intended. He thanked Board Vice President Mary Strong, Dr. Keith Leonard (formerly with the Atlantic Animal Health Center) and Dave and Barb Chase, for their donations making the clean-up stations possible.

Signs or placards will be made up for those posts to that effect, which may spur additional sponsorships, especially for the dog waste bags included at each station.

April 21st, 2014 by Ric Hanson

AREA COUNTIES: SAC-CRAWFORD-CARROLL–
1021 AM CDT MON APR 21 2014

NORTHWEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE TO 15 TO 25 MPH WITH GUSTS OF 30 MPH DURING THE AFTERNOON. MEANWHILE…A DRIER AIRMASS IS EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO THE STATE WITH RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES DROPPING INTO THE UPPER 20S ACROSS AREAS OF NORTHERN AND WESTERN IOWA BY AFTERNOON. THIS WILL LEAD TO ELEVATED FIRE POTENTIAL DURING THE AFTERNOON UNTIL WINDS RELAX AND THE RELATIVE HUMIDITY CLIMBS BY THIS EVENING. ANY OUTDOOR FIRES ACROSS THIS AREA DURING THE AFTERNOON WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO SPREAD RAPIDLY AND BURNING IS DISCOURAGED.

ALSO, A RED FLAG WARNINGIS IN EFFECT FOR MONONA COUNTY FROM 1-PM UNTIL 7-PM. CONDITIONS WILL BE FAVORABLE THIS AFTERNOON FOR FIRES TO START EASILY AND SPREAD QUICKLY. ALL OUTDOOR BURNING SHOULD BE AVOIDED.

April 21st, 2014 by Ric Hanson

Shelby County Emergency Management Coordinator Bob Seivert says the Local Fire Danger signs will remain in the “Moderate” category, this week. Seivert says sunshine and wind quickly dry the dead vegetation, and even with the rains we have had recently the speed with which the drying process occurs is something to be aware of.

Seivert also advises residents to be aware of the potential for severe weather this week. The National Weather Service’s Hazardous Weather Outlook calls for the possibility of strong to severe storms Wednesday night into early Thursday afternoon.

April 21st, 2014 by Ric Hanson

While Iowans are seeing the first ash trees cut down to slow the spread of the emerald ash borer, yet another invading insect is causing a stir as it could threaten our walnut trees. Robin Pruisner, an entomologist with the Iowa Department of Agriculture, says the pest called the walnut twig beetle is being found in nearby states, but it hasn’t been found in Iowa — yet. “Research is ongoing on how to protect walnut trees,” Pruisner says. “We just don’t have a lot of answers. This is even newer than the emerald ash borer at this point in time.” The walnut twig beetle carries what’s known as “thousand canker disease,” which is deadly to black walnut trees.

There’s been no way found to reverse the disease or to kill the beetle without also killing the trees. “The geosmithia pathogen is actually very common in our environment and this is just kind of a new cousin of that,” Pruisner says. “The walnut twig beetle is native to the southwest United States and down into Mexico.” For many years, the beetle was only found in states like Arizona, California and New Mexico. Now, the rice grain-sized pest is being found well beyond the southwest, in states as far away as Virginia and Pennsylvania — and closer to home in Ohio, Colorado and Tennessee.

Pruisner suspects the insects are moving such great distances because people are enabling them to hitch long rides. “Aunt Sally out in Colorado has a walnut tree that dies in her backyard but Cousin Ed here in Iowa would like to make a coffee table out of it,” Pruisner says. “This is the kind of thing that people throw in the back of their truck and they drive to Iowa and they could be inadvertently bringing along with it thousand canker of walnut.”

One way to stop the spread is to only use local firewood in campfires. Iowa ranks sixth in the nation for the production of black walnut, prized for its grain and color and it’s exported all over the world.

April 21st, 2014 by Ric Hanson

WASHINGTON (AP) – A study paid for by the federal government says biofuels made from the leftovers of harvested corn plants are worse than gasoline for global warming in the short term. The research published in the journal Nature Climate Change challenges the Obama administration’s conclusions that biofuels are a much cleaner oil alternative and will help fight climate change. The study is being criticized by the biofuels industry and Obama administration as flawed.

Corn residue is one of the most promising ways to make cellulosic biofuels. Biofuels have struggled to reach the volumes required by law. The administration and biofuel supporters claim biofuels are better for the environment than are gasoline and corn ethanol. A 2007 law requires that they release 60 percent less carbon than gas to qualify as renewable fuel.

April 19th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – The University of Iowa Burn Treatment Center is reporting a higher-than-normal number of patients suffering from anhydrous ammonia burns. The center says it has treated five people in the last two weeks. The center’s medical personnel say they usually only see one or two cases each year. Official say the high number of patients in such a short amount of time is concerning.

Anhydrous ammonia is used legally by farmers as a crop fertilizer, but is often used, too, for the illegal manufacturing of methamphetamine. The colorless, pungent gas can burn the eyes, throat, skin and damage lung tissue at high exposures.